PLACERVILLE . INFO

RYAN RANDAZZO - RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

As promised, opponents of the proposed Foothill Oaks casino in California on U.S. 50 between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe have appealed recent court decisions favoring the project.

Lakes Entertainment of Minneapolis, which will run the casino for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, announced the appeals and called them "stall tactics."

The project is similar to the Thunder Valley tribal casino off Interstate 80 between Sacramento and Reno, which has attracted gamblers who otherwise would travel to Nevada, and is expected to have a similar draining effect on Stateline casinos.

Two appeals

The casino opponents, known as Voices for Rural Living and partly funded by Lake Tahoe casino interests, filed two appeals -- one challenging a Sacramento County Superior Court decision to discharge a VRL case, and the second appealing for an injunction, Lakes announced.

Both cases involve the California Department of Transportation's proposed interchange connecting the tribe's land to U.S. 50.

The 460-member Shingle Springs tribe needs an interchange on U.S. 50 because the tribe's land is cut off from the highway by private property and a homeowners association that doesn't allow commercial traffic without permission. The tribe complains that even appliances delivered to homes require the association's approval.

Review upheld

Lakes declared victory for the casino in November when Sacramento Superior Court upheld an environmental review of the interchange, at the time providing investors in the public company a 20-month estimate for opening Foothill Oaks.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council will file a friend of the court brief to help the casino opponents' legal appeal, City Manager David Jinkens said last month. The city supported El Dorado County's legal fight against the casino, until the county settled in September when the tribe agreed to pay a minimum of $191 million during 20 years.

The city's economic development manager estimates Foothill Oaks will suck

$75 million a year from the city, or about a quarter of the city's taxable sales, Jinkens said.